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Post by electricblue109 on Jan 29, 2013 10:35:56 GMT
Somewhere in the world there is a book, it knows all that happens
These words echo through the mind of the poet, as his body shivers from the freezing cold and dripping wetness of his clothes as he half walked, half stumbled through the hallowed halls of the monastery. Old stone and wooden architecture dominated here, made ancient by the relentless passage of time. The poet let out a flat chuckle as found his way through a corridor, time was the one thing he was running out of, and the canker growing in his belly meant that he was beginning to become desperate. Death, he mused further, had a wonderful effect upon the mind, narrowing its scope onto important matters, allowing one to accomplish amazing feats of constitution that normally would be impossible. Case in point, he had managed to drag his near three score aged body to a monastery eighteen thousand feet up the side of a mountain.
He moved aside a small set of doors to enter what could best be described as an office, although more Spartan an in keeping with the personal residence of a senior monk here at the monastery. The man sitting at the table in front of him was your atypical monk, clothed in orange cloth, a bald head and prayer beads in his hands. Two bowls full of hot soup sat on the desk, and to the side a small teapot atop a coal brazier was well on its way to the boil. The monk regarded him with the same expression as cat would whilst watching a wounded dog walk up to it. Silence reigned for the briefest of seconds, before the poet spoke.
‘I had a dream three weeks ago. It needs to be recorded’ The monk snorted ‘we do not consider your so-called prophesies as suitable material for the book, there is no proof that...’ ‘PEOPLE WILL DIE IF YOU DONT!’ roared the poet, his rage threatening to upend the brazier and spill burning coals across a room covered in scroll and parchment. The monk recovered the apparatus, a simple flick of his wrist pushing it back upright. His eyes locked with those of the poet, reading his desperation and tiredness. After a few more moments passed, he sighed inwardly.
‘Hmm, you would not come here unless you thought it an importance, tell me what you saw’ The poet hesitated for a second, before pointedly looking at the soup in front of him ‘I am sure that you can talk well enough as we eat’ The man sighed, and slowly began to recount what he had seen, the memory forever burned into his imagination. ‘There is a ship, great and hulking, made of thousands of different kinds of wood from the far corners of the world. Its form is that of a merchant ship, bulky and huge, with a crew of thousands, and it sails upon a mighty river.’ He stopped at this point, the memory visibly disturbing him. Mustering all of his remaining strength he continued. ‘The deck is awash with blood, all aboard are dead, all at the hands of a few, they killed for the cargo inside.’ The monk looked confused, metaphor was common in prophesy, and sometimes even the oracle themselves did not know what they were seeing. The poet continued ‘But that is the end I see, heh, I even wrote a small poem about it. The path to that place needs to be avoided, and it will be walked by but a few souls.’ He paused again, although this time it was more for effect than necessity, as he could already see a captive audience in the elderly monk. ‘This is their tale, and it begins with water.’
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Post by electricblue109 on Jan 29, 2013 11:21:41 GMT
Alard Holt opened his eyes, and was immediately greeted with the sight of teeth. The creature behind him looked as if a big cat had collided with some aquatic horror from the depths of the sea, whilst possessing a hide of the purest alabaster that Alard have ever seen. A single horn broke its brow, and its eyes betrayed a deep and powerful intelligence behind feline slitted pupils. The next words were spoken directly to him, although there was not a single movement from the creature’s mouth. ‘You been hurt’ its tone was deep, calming almost to an extreme. ‘I pulled you in here for a moment, you need to know something.’ Alard became aware of a burning inside his chest, and realised that he had been holding his breath the whole time. ‘Stop!’ the delivery of the command almost shocked the young man into opening his mouth, but he persevered and clamped it shut. The creature spoke again. ‘The boat you were on got hit by something, you fell into the water along with everyone else, I think the boat flipped over and clipped you as well. You’re probably very fortunate to be alive. Look you don’t have much time, so just head towards the shore and try not to die, that would be kinda bad for the both of us. If it were at all possible for such a face to grin, the creature would be doing it now. As the burning sensation reached an almost unbearable amount, the creature spoke one final time ‘Oh and by the way, the reason I made you hold your breath, is ‘cause you’re drowning. Sink or swim little one.’
Consciousness hit him like a mountain.
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Post by electricblue109 on Jan 29, 2013 11:38:44 GMT
The water pressed upon him like a hand crushing a dry husk, panic and a subconscious survival instinct took over, powering Alard towards the surface, breaking upwards, he took a blissfully cool lungful of air and looked into the chaos around him.
The river raged around him, swollen with the waters of late spring it drove Alard at a speed usually reserved for racing horses, rocks the size of carts spread everywhere around him, collision with one would surely spell a swift death. Tree-trunks the height of buildings were swept past, some splintering as they impacted against razor sharp stone and rock.
He needed a plan, and fast.
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Post by Bal on Jan 29, 2013 12:58:56 GMT
Arms and legs flailed and kicked before the young man could even register their movement, let alone ponder his way through the ever cryptic 'help' offered by his eidolon in the back of his mind. Upon breaching the surface he realised he had even less time to ponder than even the prospect of drowning had afforded him.
Thick tree trunks could be his lifeline if only he could clamber his way up onto one and maintain his balance, swimming against the flow of the water seemed a surefire way of getting gashed to pieces on one of those rocks should he prove too weak to fight against the current. Alard took a deep gulp of air and drove himself forward towards the nearest trunk, aiming to intercept it before it broke upon one of the rocks... of course once he was atop it leaping from trunk to trunk was going to be a completely separate hurdle but a stupid plan was better than no plan at all!
Of course if he wasn't the only one to be alive in these churning swells that just made his life a whole lot more complicated...
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Post by electricblue109 on Jan 29, 2013 14:03:21 GMT
Alard poured every available ounce of energy he had left into his stroke, powering his way forward, each inch gained feeling like mile; he managed to wrap his arms around a smaller tree, its truck twice the width of his arm. It was a smaller trunk than what he was hoping for, but it was able to keep him above the water at least.
The current still held him, and was continuing to sweep him downriver. Further down he could see great mounds of rock breaking from the surface of the river, and the foliage that had been taken by the current was begging to form a natural dam between two of the larger one, decked in loose branches, whole trees and mud. A larger tree, its trunk easily two meters thick and its branches spreading many more out to its sides, crashed into part of the dam and wedged itself between the two larger rocks. Barely hanging onto a branch on the thankfully skyward side of the trunk, Kendall held on for dear life, snapping him out of his reverie were the cries of another man caught on one of the partially submerged branches. Yen Lee-Ben fought against the current as it tried to sweep him under the trunk and further down the river.
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Post by tarkara on Jan 29, 2013 16:23:42 GMT
"I hate water!", Kendall attempted to scream over the sound of the rushing tide. His branch seemed stable enough but he'd rather not have to start building a nest to live in. He looks around trying to find a way to dry land or atop the dam.
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Post by Triggladius on Jan 31, 2013 14:59:24 GMT
Caught between the forks of a branch, there was little Yen Lee-Ben could do to prevent himself being battered or torn away by the torrent other than hold on. Yet the water was the least of his worries. Any large piece of debris being cast downstream may easily crush him, trapped as he was. Glancing around, he was certain he spotted Kendall before another wave swamped him. Breaching the surface, Lee-Ben looked again, risking losing his grip to raise one arm above his head and wave. "Kendall! Here Kendall!"
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Post by tarkara on Jan 31, 2013 15:40:06 GMT
"I hope this branch can support both of us!" Kendall reached down to try to grab Yen Lee-Ben's hand, but is out of reach. "Drat, I require length!" He quickly undoes his belt and lowers it to man.
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Post by Triggladius on Jan 31, 2013 16:08:43 GMT
"You are certainly not alone in that hope." Wrapping the end of the belt around his hand, Lee-Ben began to work his way through the water towards Kendall. Taking a moment to wipe the water from his eyes, Lee-Ben takes a look at the larger log looming over his head. "Fancy a lift?" He asks.
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Post by electricblue109 on Jan 31, 2013 19:01:22 GMT
Looking around quickly before removing his belt, Kendall saw that the best way off the river would be to his left as he looked upstream. A tangle of whole trees, pieces of boat and a large and sturdy pile of rocks led to the far shore, and a good scramble there would allow access to higher, and more importantly, dry ground. out of the corner of his eye he saw a young man, obviously alive from the great strokes he was performing to propel himself towards a set of trees that had wedged themselves upon a pile of rocks, further to the right of Kendall. Grabbing one side of his belt Kendall threw the other side to the man in the water, trying to gain memory of where he had seen him before. although it seemed a lifetime ago, this man had been on the boat heading across Shen Hei lake when everything went to mad. he had introduced himself as Yen Lee-ben, and inquisitive, and had asked several questions concerning the high quality red clay that Kendall had bought from a pit further up in the mountains. Kendall had been in the middle of explaining the different ways you could tell poor quality pottery from authentic when the boat had just keeled straight over. The current in the river was starting to take hold of the inquisitive, Kendall grabbed the belt in both hands and hauled. Roll 'Might' skill please Takara.
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Post by tarkara on Jan 31, 2013 20:43:55 GMT
Kendall did his best to heft up the inquisitive but he wasn't a very strong man, he wasn't sure if he could make it.
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Post by electricblue109 on Jan 31, 2013 21:06:31 GMT
As Kendall put his weight into heaving the stricken inquisitive, there was a sharp crack and the branch below him gave way. With one hand still on the belt, his other flailing arm latched onto and held a stouter piece of wood, thus keeping him from ending up in the water himself, but he saw now hanging precariously down the side of the log with his head a mere foot from the frothing current. The inquisitive was less fortunate, and whilst holding onto the belt he was pulled down underneath the tree trunk into the maze of rocks and branches under the surface. the water around him was a clear as glass, the only thing that marred his vision were streams of bubbles and debris flying past him. feeling a pain on his leg he saw that the traitorous branches that had so snapped but a scant second earlier had landed on his leg, and pushed by the current was pinning him to the riverbed. The branch was too big and heavy to push off with one hand, his air was rapidly running out, and the belt the only thing stopping him from being carried off downstream.
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Post by Bal on Jan 31, 2013 21:15:27 GMT
Shit...
Alard now had two choices, leap his way to some more stable platform and hope to make his way to shore... or, as he looked downstream and saw the two men fighting for their own survival, one of them sunk beneath the spray. It was a valiant effort by the one upon the log, but no enough, and without any assistance the man attached to the belt would surely either drown or be dashed to pieces upon the rocks and branches below. He would be fighting the current if he were to swim, but perhaps he could use his previous idea... just in reverse.
Scanning for anything that would lead him further upstream while looking stable enough to support his full body weight, he poised his body for movement... and hoped that he had the dexterity to pull of this otherwise suicidal rescue attempt...
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Post by electricblue109 on Jan 31, 2013 21:20:05 GMT
Athletics Bal my good man
Also, would Tarkara kindly roll might again to keep hold of Lee-Ben
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Post by Bal on Jan 31, 2013 21:21:49 GMT
And then... he leapt, hoping that momentum would keep him going towards the pair of struggling men...
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Post by tarkara on Jan 31, 2013 21:36:42 GMT
Gripping the belt tightly he felt he could probably keep the man where he was but looking through the clear water he could see his leg was pinned. It'd be tough accounting for water altering where things actually were in it for any normal attempt to hit anything inside, luckily Kendall only needed to see the branch. Under his breath, grinning, he said "Bend".
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Post by electricblue109 on Jan 31, 2013 21:59:56 GMT
Alard leapt... and landed on a thankfully study branch of floating tree, running further down its trunk as it spun in the current he reached its base and leapt again from rock to rock, feeling them shift under his weight. Finally landing on the trunk of the larger tree he steadied himself and ran towards the figure holding on for dear life to the tree branch with one hand and a belt running into the water with his other. There was a sudden sense of movement as the water under the young man seemed to form a small whirlpool, and a shower of splinter shot up from it with the sound of a beehive detonating.
Under the water, Lee-Ben was running out of air when the log on his leg detonated. he felt the movement of air past his uncovered legs and the bite of splinters, but as the current caught him again and twisted him round, so that now his legs dangled downstream, streaming blood from a series of small cuts. attempting to use his free hand to pull himself up resulted in his long clothes getting caught on the sharp rocks of the river bed.
fighting the current still he noticed a macabre sight, that a pale hand, its arm leading into the loose scree and rock of the riverbed, was caught upon his sleeve. attempting to dislodge it with his free hand he spent some of the last of his air on a involuntary scream as the hand wrapped round and grabbed his wrist. fighting to get it off, hoping to any gods that were listening that this was a hallucination brought about by lack of air, he vaguely noticed the water around him heating up.
Back on top of the tree trunk, Kendall was still hanging on for dear life after, his head ringing from the effort of twisting, when he felt the Inquisitive's weight shift on the end of the belt. pulling all the harder, he was again stopped by the man catching something in the river. noticing that Lee-Ben was madly scrabbling at something, it took him a moment to realise that his vision into the water was rapidly getting obscured due to a mass of small bubbles rising out the river, and another second before he realised that when they popped upon the surface, they were releasing steam.
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Post by Bal on Jan 31, 2013 22:12:19 GMT
With each leap and landing Alard wavered a moment, recapturing his sense of balance before continuing upstream. However, the seemingly spontaneous detonation of a large chunk of wood beneath him, and below the surface of the water, caught him unawares. He reflexively swung his arm out to draw his heavy coat between him and the shower of splinters, legs as wide apart as they were able to be to maintain what limited purchase he had upon his log. He turned his head, meanwhile, the gauge their ever decreasing distance to the nearby dam before he scanned beneath the water for whomever was attached to the other end of that belt. The man clinging to the branch of the tree was out of the more immediate danger of drowning, though Alard feared he would need to go beneath the water to find the man. He sidled his way quickly along the branch towards Kendall, reaching down as he came within arms reach and grasping onto his wrist. That water was boiling for whatever reason and if neither man was removed they would be scalded for sure. "Hold onto that belt tight sir... and help me pull you and the other man up!" Might (+0) (1d6=3, 1d6=2, 1d6=1, 1d6=3) -2, spending my singular fate point to invoke the aspect No More Heroes to be a big goddamn hero for a +2 giving me a total of 0. Not great but not a complete failure!
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Post by electricblue109 on Jan 31, 2013 22:25:24 GMT
The wieght of the submerged man under the log caught alard by surprise, and was barely able to hold onto the belt. Kendall, roll might one more time
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Post by Triggladius on Feb 1, 2013 0:24:53 GMT
Under the surface, Lee-Ben was trying to tear his eyes away from the sight of the dismembered arm attempting to pull him to a watery grave. Black spots were beginning to appear at the corners of his vision, his chest was burning, he could feel the leather of the belt slipping through his fingers. It would be all too easy to let go, to slip away into the black, into the cold embrace of the river.
Lashing out, Lee-Ben's toes brushed against a submerged rock. That one slight contact breaks through Lee-Ben's panicked mind. Things cannot end here. There was still too much to do, still loose ends to be tied up. With his grip on the belt at the very extreme, Lee-Ben kicks himself away from the rock and back towards the log, praying that Kendall can grab hold of him.
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